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"We at HHS will never forget "9/11" and our hearts go out to the families and friends of those who lost loved ones on that tragic day," Secretary Thompson said. "At the same time, we honor all those Americans who came together to help New York City in the aftermath of Sept. 11. They revealed the best of America by working hard, helping others and sacrificing a part of themselves to strengthen both a city and a nation. I am proud that so many HHS professionals contributed to the recovery effort."

Following the attacks on the World Trade Center, HHS' National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) made its largest deployment ever in response to the New York City area. In addition, HHS is providing more than $116 million in disaster assistance to New York -- the largest single-site emergency response in HHS history.

Some HHS-supported efforts are continuing. In particular, mortuary specialists who are helping the city in identification of remains are still on assignment in New York and are expected to continue their work at least through next month.

"The '9/11' response quickly became the largest deployment in the National Disaster Medical System's history," Secretary Thompson said. "Two thousand HHS-supported health and mortuary professionals worked hundreds of thousands of hours, responding to the needs of thousands of New York City residents and rescue personnel."

On Sept. 11, within minutes of the attacks on the World Trade Center, Secretary Thompson declared a national health emergency making the NDMS and Commissioned Corps ready for deployment. The HHS Office of Emergency Preparedness and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) made immediate deployments, and nearly 50 tons of backup medical supplies were also provided to New York that day.

NDMS sent more than 1,600 volunteer health and mortuary professionals, and about 600 health care staff from the HHS Commissioned Corps Readiness Force and the CDC were deployed to New York City.

Organized into Disaster Medical Assistance Teams (DMATs), the HHS-sponsored contingent of health professionals aided more than 9,500 rescue workers with injuries ranging from broken bones to eye and skin irritation to heart failure. Mental Health experts met with 6,100 federal responders at Ground Zero. Veterinary Medical Assistance Teams (VMATs) handled more than 900 canine visits mainly treating exhaustion, dehydration and sore paws.

NDMS Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Teams (DMORTs) have supported the New York City Medical Examiner's Office and to date have helped to identify 1,092 victims.

The NDMS includes teams around the country that can be brought together quickly and deployed in emergencies. Members of the teams are volunteers. In responding to New York's needs, personnel from 63 different response teams were deployed, including members from all 10 NDMS mortuary teams, members from all four NDMS veterinary units, and members from five of the six NDMS Burn Support Teams.

In addition, HHS has committed $116 million in disaster assistance to New York as part of its 9/11 relief efforts. In addition, New York area health care organizations are expected to receive a significant share of an additional $140 million in HHS assistance to be awarded to organizations directly affected by the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

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